Adventures with Baby Sister | Second Trimester

I love the second trimester!

I can finally understand why so many people claim that being pregnant is no big deal. 

Everyone finally knows I'm knocked up, I've gotten a ton of energy back, I have a legit baby bump (rather than just looking like a slightly chubby girl with a beer belly), all of my nausea is gone, and for once in my life I'm not consumed with portion control and dieting (because this baby girl needs calories)! My only minor complaint is heartburn, which is quite easily dealt with.

Basically, I feel great!

I haven't been taking weekly "bump" photos this time around, but I do have a couple from the second trimester, the first of which Patty took during our annual trip to Priest Lake when I was around 16 weeks. The last time I was pregnant, I had just barely started to show at this point... 

It's been quite a contrast to my pregnancy with Ryder!

During the second trimester of my first pregnancy, I continued to puke multiple times a day until at least week 17. I had horrible skin problems and grew weird hair in all sorts of strange places. I experienced scary heart palpitations that eventually uncovered an underlying heart condition I've apparently had my whole life. I had to take supplements for terrible anemia. And right in the midst of the joy of finding out that Ryder was a boy, we also learned that he had some concerning cysts in his brain that required extensive and stressful genetic testing to determine whether or not he had a serious, life-threatening developmental abnormality (clearly he didn't). I suffered from excruciating back pain, and by week 25 I had already started to experience pain, swelling, and numbness in my hands and feet. Oh, and I failed my first round of glucose testing (luckily I passed the second time).

Every pregnancy really is different!

This time around, I really find it difficult to find a single thing to complain about.

We've actually been having a lot of fun.

Somehow I always end up pregnant during football season. I think Stewart plans it this way so that he can ensure himself a sober driver for the duration of the season. 

Luckily, this year I had some partners in crime. 

My fellow Hawkwagon Tailgaters, Jessica and Haley, are also pregnant this season!

Besides going to football games, quite a few exciting events went on during the past three months. 

We ended the summer with a couple fun trips to Mayfield Lake and Priest Lake, and took a super fun "Babymoon" trip to the ocean with Brett and Haley.

My sweet Grandma Sally turned 90 years old, Halloween was a blast, and we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Alway Family. 

First family photo with all four of us (if you count the bump)...

I also got to see one of my very best, lifelong friends, Brooke, over the holidays. Remember her from our trip to Denver when I was pregnant with Ryder? 

And back at home, we started nesting and preparing for Baby Sister's arrival...

Stew and I got to work on transforming Ryder's nursery into a baby girl's room, starting with the installation of a chandelier. Although I LOVE the final result, I don't necessarily recommend doing electrical work with your spouse.

I've been trying to spend as much quality time with Ryder as possible while he's still my only baby.

He's pretty darn excited to be a Big Brother!

We're working on potty training, because I'm not necessarily thrilled about the idea of having two kids in diapers at the same time. Ryder does love his Paw Patrol Big Boy Undies, but he hasn't really taken to using the toilet yet... we'll see how things progress (fingers crossed)!

Oh, we're halfway there!

We were so thrilled to really get to see Baby Sister at our 20 week ultrasound! She is perfect, with ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes, and her sweet little profile sure does look a lot like Ryder's did, I think. We are loving feeling her kick and move around, and can't believe that in just three more months we'll get to kiss her sweet cheeks.

22 weeks pregnant with Baby Sister.

I'm feeling anxious and excited all at the same time. 

I'm so excited to meet her I can hardly stand it, but I am apprehensive about how I am going to handle being a mother to TWO children at the same time! This pregnancy is flying by crazy fast, and with so many events and holidays coming up, she's truly going to be here before we know it. 

We sure can't wait to meet our sweet little angel!

An Alway Family Thanksgiving

We have many things to be thankful for this year, but I must say that I am most grateful for my (so far) easy, breezy pregnancy! Now I just have to hope that Baby Sister will be just as calm and easygoing after she's born... 

Like most years, we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Alway Family. 

I love how they stick to classic Thanksgiving traditions like football, beer, and a delicious turkey feast with all the trimmings. And this time Ryder was a year older and extremely well-behaved, unlike last year, when I spent the entire day chasing him around to make sure he didn't eat kitty litter, fall down the stairs, or break precious family heirlooms (next year will clearly be another story with Baby Sis...)

 We had a wonderful Turkey Day visit with Stew's extended family (I think we had about 16 people for dinner), and stayed over on Friday as well to watch the Huskies kick butt in the Apple Cup. 

I'm so thankful for these two that my heart could just about burst. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Beach Babymoon

Stewart and I love our sweet firstborn baby boy more than life itself, but we also recognize that a little healthy one-on-one "adult" time is crucial for our marriage and sanity. And since our lives are about to change again drastically in about three months when Baby Sister joins the family, we decided to plan a little grownup getaway for ourselves with some of our very best friends, Brett and Haley. 

We headed out to Ocean Shores for a weekend of relaxation...

Believe it or not (she looks tiny in this photo), Haley is also due with a baby girl just six days after me! We've had so much fun sharing our pregnancy experiences.

We had big plans for our weekend at the beach:

Relax... Repeat.

After an amazing night's sleep during which I, for once, did not have a two-year-old kicking me in the ribs and trying to climb on top of me all night, Haley and I headed to the nearby beach town of Seabrook for prenatal massages. Haley had found a beautiful unique day spa, where we were both treated to the most amazing massages of our lives! 

I honestly can't remember the last time I felt so relaxed and calm; it was exactly what I needed...

In the meantime, the boys had no trouble entertaining themselves back at the casino. 

They both won big, which meant next up was a yummy lunch at my favorite coastal seafood restaurant, Bennett's. And since we were on vacation, our next stop was the candy shop for ice cream and salt water taffy. 

Afterward, we rolled ourselves on down to the beach...

Future Baby BFFs.

The rest of the weekend we spent lounging, chatting, napping, watching movies (and the UW Husky football game), and of course eating as much as we could manage. I think on Saturday night all of us were asleep on the couch by about ten o'clock... 

Times sure have changed...

Ryder spent the weekend with my parents, and even though I knew he was having a fantastic time I sure did miss that little guy! He has been my entire world for the past 2.5 years, and I'm having a bit of a hard time imagining how I'm going to split my time and attention between two children. In the meantime, I am just trying to shower him in as much love and quality time as possible.

Because Baby Sister is on the way, and we can't wait to meet her!

Many, many thanks to our fabulous friends Brett and Haley for making this fantastic weekend possible. 

We love you guys!